Barrett to announce recall plans before mayoral election

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he'll tell voters before the April 3 mayoral election whether he's in or out of a likely recall election against Gov. Scott Walker.

Barrett said Wednesday he plans to announce his intentions shortly after the Government Accountability Board certifies the gubernatorial recall. A Dane County judge has given the GAB until March 30 to decide whether enough valid signatures were submitted on petitions seeking to recall the first-term Republican governor.

If the recall moves forward, the primary election would be held May 8 and the general election would follow on June 5.

Three Democrats -- former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma and Secretary of State Doug LaFollette -- already have declared their candidacy. Barrett has said only that he is "seriously considering" entering the race, although his latest fundraising letter targeted Walker, rather than his mayoral opponent, University of Wisconsin Extension faculty member Ed McDonald.

Barrett was the Democratic nominee who lost to Walker in the November 2010 gubernatorial election. In 2002, Barrett and Falk lost the Democratic primary to Jim Doyle, who went on to win the governorship.

Now, as Barrett seeks his third term as mayor, McDonald has prodded him to declare his intentions in the recall. McDonald claims Barrett is using the mayor's post as a stepping-stone to higher office.